The moment is finally here, and Adobe flash player 10.1 is ready for download. It’s still in beta version, but if you have a netbook that has hardware enabled graphics acceleration then flash player 10.1 will finally enable you to use it.
To be more specific flash player 10.1 includes support for GPU acceleration for H.264 encoded Flash video. That means if you have a supported graphics processor, you should be able to watch 1080p Flash video smoothly without overtaxing your CPU. Two of those supported processors are becoming increasingly common in netbooks and thin and light laptops: the NVIDIA ION and Intel GMA X4500MHD.
The NVIDIA ION platform combines a low power Atom processor with NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics. The result is a low power laptop that might seem a bit sluggish performing some everyday tasks, but which can play some modern video games and decode Blu-Ray video. And thanks to Flash 10.1, it can also handle 1080p Flash video playback.
Intel’s GMA X4500MHD shows up in laptops using the Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV) platform. That includes the Acer Aspire 1410, 1810T, and Asus UL20A, which can all handle HD Flash video beautifully.
Adobe Flash Player 10.1 should work just as well on laptops with the NVIDIA ION platform including the HP Mini 311, Lenovo IdeaPad S12, and Samsung N510.
Unfortunately, Flash Player 10.1 will not work with the GMA 950 graphics that come with nearly every other Intel Atom powered netbook on the market. I’m actually not sure about compatibility with Intel’s GMA 500 graphics, but I wouldn’t hold my breathe.
NVIDIA also cautions that while an ION-based notebook supports full GPU acceleration for HD Flash video, the CPU still has to be able to keep up with all the disk and network activity, and you may notice some stuttering because of that. This just means that you may have to buffer the video for a second before playing.
You can download Flash Player 10.1 from the Adobe Labs web site.
All currently supported graphics cards:
ATI
- Radeon HD 4xxx and higher
- Mobility Radeon HD 4xxx and higher
- Radeon HD 3xxx and higher integrated/motherboard
- FirePro V3750, V5700, V7750, V8700, V8750 and later
Broadcom
- BCM70012 video decoding chipset (used in Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Video Accelerator)
Intel
- Intel 4 Series Chipset family starting with graphics driver version 15.16.2.1986
NVIDIA (Mobile)
- ION and ION LE
- GeForce GTX 280M/260M
- GeForce GTS 260M/160M/150M
- GeForce GT 240M/230M/130M
- GeForce G210M/G110M/G105M/G102M
- GeForce 9800M GTX/GT/GTS/GS
- GeForce 9700M GTS/GT
- GeForce 9650M GS
- GeForce 9600M GT/GS
- GeForce 9500M GS/G
- GeForce 9400M G
- GeForce 9300M GS/G
- GeForce 9200M GS
- GeForce 9100M G
- GeForce 8800M GTS
- GeForce 8700M GT
- GeForce 8600M GT/GS
- GeForce 8400M GTGS
NVIDIA (Desktop)
- GeForce GTX 260/275/280/285/295
- GeForce GTS 150/240/250
- GeForce GT 120/130/220/230/240
- GeForce 205/210
- GeForce G100
- GeForce 9800 GX2/GTX/GTX+/GT
- GeForce 9600 GSO/GT
- GeForce 9500GT
- GeForce 9400GT
- GeForce 8800 GTS 512/GT/GS
- GeForce 8600 GTS/GT
- GeForce 8500 GT
- GeForce 8400 GS
- GeForce 9400 mGPU
- GeForce 9300 mGPU
- GeForce 8300 mGPU
- GeForce 8200 mGPU
- GeForce 8100 mGPU
Note that you may need to download the latest drivers or firmware updates for your graphics hardware in order for Flash Player 10.1 beta to work properly.
Related posts:
- Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta performance tests
- Intel Atom developer program SDK ready for download
- Flash 10.1 beta 3 includes Intel GMA500 support
- Intel dumping old Atom chips to get ready for Pine trail platform
- Download instant-on OS for any Asus netbook
